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Is there a way to install an aerial through a tile roof, from the inside? I would like to be able to swap antenna from time to time (hobby stuff, not TV!) but unfortunately I have a hip roof and rather inaccessible chimney. Is there a solution that involves a one-time installation on the...

I don't know if bbq coals get hot enough, but my old boss told me when he was an apprentice they occasionally pointed an acetolene torch at concrete paving slabs to make them pop and spall. Firebricks would be fine, and you'll need them for your pizza oven anyway so order a few more for the...

Ah, I mentioned running through joists in the middle of the room, not through the centres of joists. I'll be sure to define 3-d axes relative to defined datum points in future to avoid ambiguity ;):p

Thanks both, I'll try using a bit of 6mm or 10mm to draw it through.

Every article I've read, and my onsite guide, shows methods to get through floor joists in the middle of a room. However, I can't find what best practice is when running a cable through the last floor joist before reaching the brick wall, where the gap between the two is only an inch or so. Do...

I have a Samsung 7kg washing machine, model no. WF0702WKE. We bought it around 5 years ago, it's an "Ecobubble" if that makes any odds. Mid spin-cycle it started making a banging sound, with the drum obviously rotating off-centre. The best way I can explain it is that it sounded like we'd...

I'm looking at para 544 of my regs book and it looks like absolute rules to me - a series of shalls, a criterion for minimum CSA and a look-up table... I must be missing something here... what calcs should I be doing?:confused::cautious:

I'm replacing my old kitchen as part of my house refurb. I need to replace the protective bonding to the incoming water main and fit protective bonding to my gas incomer. The gas supply has no protective bond (it is plastic up to my boundary, then steel pipe underground for the ~50 feet to the...

The FMB has a suite of standard contracts that are (I understand, from what friends have told me) equitable and fair for both contractor and customer - rather than querying specific terms, ask to use an FMB standard contract. https://www.fmb.org.uk/join-the-fmb/contracts/ Of course, if I were...

A room in the ground floor of my house (early 20th century) has a brick pier starting halfway up the wall. During some renovations today I chipped the plaster off and found it's actually an old flue from a coal-burning appliance (probably a water heater or kitchen range, due to its location). I...

I'm going to be installing a CCTV system for my FIL soon. The cameras are PoE units, so I need to run 4 Cat5 cables through an external wall. My plan is to drill a 14 mm hole through the (cavity) wall, with a weatherproof box on the outside for cable exit via glands. I'll seal the box onto the...

I'm shopping for a ladder so I can get some jobs done on my house without always borrowing my FIL's extension set. Whilst looking at 5-6m jobbies on a ladder-selling website I saw that they do triple-extension ladders up to 15-16m. 50 feet! What sort of job requires a 50 foot ladder in this...

On installing my toilet, I've found that I have small gaps between the bottom of the toilet and the floor tiles in places - slight bowing in the tiles is the likely culprit. By probing with packing pieces I know that these gaps are no more than 1-2mm, but I'd rather have the load of the toilet...

The crimps + heatshrink idea is a good one - I have proper ratchet crimpers, heatshrink etc. I'm happy to have a blanking plate on the other side of the wall, and that would actually make life really easy as I wouldn't have to find a way of supporting the cabinet 4 feet off the ground whilst...

Heck of a mess though - either wet slurry or shedloads of dust. I can do it but I'm trying to avoid it. Drilling a hole is much more contained, so if there is a connection method that will be suitable, within 12mm of thickness, requiring just a hole for a cable then that is preferred :) ETA I'm...

Fortunately, it's a stud wall and the other side has not yet been skinned. So I have full access to the space behind the plasterboard.

We're building a new bathroom and as part of that bought a mirror cupboard with demister, lights etc in it. Stupidly, I didn't unbox and inspect it before getting the walls tiled. The instructions show the cupboard's fixed flex being wired in to a flex outlet behind the cupboard. That makes...

Based on recommendations (both from here and from family who have this system) I'm thinking about installing a Pyronix Enforcer V10. I notice the kit comes with 4 PIRs as standard but only one door contact. I plan to buy the extra PIRs to do every room. I assumed I should be putting contact...

Is there such a thing as a 100mm weldable PVC blanking plug? If I can get one I can fit a 21.5mm bulkhead connector to it. Not ideal as I would have a certain amount of water pooling before it drains off but one possibility.

I need to reduce a 100mm pipe to a 21.5mm pipe (i.e. 100mm PVC duct down to PVC overflow pipe). I have found a 40mm to 21.5mm reducer, but am drawing a blank over a 100mm to 21.5 (or 100 to 40mm) reducer. I had wondered about using rubber soil stack components but these are 4"/110mm rather...